Apparatus and method for force mounting semiconductor packages to printed circuit boards

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for force mounting semiconductor packages onto printed circuit boards without the use of solder. The apparatus includes a substrate, a first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate, a housing configured to house the first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate, and a force mechanism configured to force mount the housing including the integrated circuit die and substrate onto a printed circuit board. The method includes mounting a first integrated circuit die onto a first surface of a substrate, housing the first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate in a housing, and using a force mechanism to force mount the housing including the first integrated circuit die mounted on the substrate onto a printed circuit board. According to various embodiments, the force mechanism includes one of the following types of force mechanisms clamps, screws, bolts, adhesives, epoxy, or Instrument housings or heat stakes.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a related to concurrently filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/211,439 which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for force mounting semiconductor packages to printed circuit boards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Imaging chips, such as CMOS sensors or CCDs, include circuitry which is capable of sensing images received by the chip. Imaging chips are typically encapsulated in a package that includes a lens of glass or some other type of transparent material that focuses an image onto the light sensitive circuitry of the chip. In response, the chip senses the actual image received by the imaging circuitry through the lens.

Imaging chips are usually affixed to a printed circuit board within some type of imaging system. Metal contacts between the chip and the board and metal traces on the board enable the imaging chip to communicate with other devices on the board.

A procedure known as “solder re-flow” is commonly used to affix most semiconductor devices onto printed circuit boards. During a standard solder re-flow operation, a solder paste is deposited onto contact pads of the chip package. Thereafter, the contacts arm aligned and positioned onto mating contact pads of the printed circuit board. The package and board are then heated to temperatures sufficient to cause the solder paste to re-flow. When the heat is removed and the solder cools, bonds are formed at the contact points to affix the package to the board.

Solder re-flow operations are problematic with imaging chips. The high temperatures required to cause the solder to re-flow, typically 220 degrees C or greater, may be harmful to the imaging circuitry on the chip. To overcome this problem, imaging chips are sometimes affixed to a printed circuit board using a laser to spot solder the contacts. With this procedure, a laser beam is focused specifically on the solder paste disposed between the contacts of the package and board. The heat from the laser causes the solder paste to re-flow. When the laser is removed, the solder cools, resulting in a bond between the package and the board. The advantage of spot welding is that the imaging circuitry is not exposed to elevated temperatures which helps prevent damage to the chip.

Spot welding of contacts, however, is less than ideal. Imaging chips tend to be highly integrated devices that require a high number of input/output contacts, typically arranged in an array located on the bottom surface of the chip package. It is therefore very difficult to spot solder the contacts located in the center region of the array away from the outer periphery of the chip package. Spot welding is also typically performed serially, one contact at a time. Thus the time involved to spot solder all the contacts of a chip is significant, particularly compared to a standard re-flow operation where all the contacts are re-flowed at the same time. The laser equipment is also expensive, which adds to the cost and complexity of printed circuit board assembly. Finally, once a chip is soldered to a printed circuit board, it is very difficult to remove without damaging the chip and/or board. It is therefore not feasible to either replace or upgrade in the field a chip package that has been soldered to a printed circuit board.

An apparatus and method for force mounting semiconductor packages onto printed circuit boards without the use of solder is therefore needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the foregoing, and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, an apparatus and method for force mounting semiconductor packages onto printed circuit boards without the use of solder is described. The apparatus includes a substrate, a first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate, a housing configured to house the first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate, and a force mechanism configured to force mount the housing including the integrated circuit die and substrate onto a printed circuit board. The method includes mounting a first integrated circuit die onto a first surface of a substrate, housing the first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate in a housing, and using a force mechanism to force mount the housing including the first integrated circuit die mounted on the substrate onto a printed circuit board. According to various embodiments, the force mechanism may include one of the following clamps, screws, epoxy, adhesives, an Instrument housing, or heat stakes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 cross section of the chip package affixed to a printed circuit board according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the chip package of the present invention before it is affixed to a printed circuit board.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the chip package with ball bonds used to affix the package to the printed circuit board according to the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate cross section of two embodiments of a clamp used to clamp the chip package to a substrate according to the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show various cross sections of a chip package 12 before and after being inserted into a clamp according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another embodiment of the present invention.

In the Figures, like reference numbers refer to like components and elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a cross section of a chip package affixed to a printed circuit board according to the present invention is shown. The chip package 10 includes a housing 12 with a lens barrel 14, a lens 16 contained within the lens barrel 14, a substrate 18, a first integrated circuit die 20 and a second integrated circuit die 22. A non-conductive adhesive layer 23 is used to mount the first integrated circuit die 20 onto the second integrated circuit die 22. Wire bonds 24 are provided between the first and second integrated circuit dice 20 and 22 and a first set of contact pads 26 located on a first surface 28 of the substrate 18. Electrically conductive vias 30 are provided to electrically couple the first set of contact pads 26 with a second set of contact pads 32 located on a second surface 34 of the substrate 18. Contacts 36 are provided between the substrate 18 and a third set of contact pads 38 on the printed circuit board 40. A force mechanism 42 is used to force or pressure mount the housing 12 including the first and second integrated circuits 20 and 22 onto the printed circuit board 40.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the first integrated circuit die 20 is an imaging chip and second integrated circuit die 22 is an image processing chip. The housing 12 is made of an opaque material. Suitable opaque materials include, but are not limited to, plastic, metal, epoxy, or ceramic. The lens 16 can be either glass or some other transparent material such as plastic. The lens 16 is generally positioned within the lens barrel 14 such that images received through the lens barrel 14 are focused specifically onto the imaging circuitry of the first integrated circuit die 20. The substrate 18 can be made of any number of different types of materials, including for example, polyimide or flex-tape. The first integrated circuit die 20 includes imaging circuitry (not shown) that is capable of sensing images received through the lens 16 within the lens barrel 14. The second integrated circuit die 22 is configured to process the images sensed by the first integrated circuit die 20. In one embodiment, the contacts 36 are gold wire ball bonds. In other embodiments, the contacts 36 may be wire ball bonds made of other conductive metals such as copper, aluminum, etc. Finally, the force mechanism can be any one or a combination of a number of different type of mechanisms capable of applying a force sufficient to mount the housing 12 to the printed circuit board 40 such as screws, clamps, epoxy, adhesives, an Instrument housing, or heat stakes.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the chip package 10 of the present invention before it is affixed to a printed circuit board. The package 10 is assembled using well known semiconductor packaging techniques to include the lens 16, the dice 20 and 22 mounted onto the substrate 18, and wire bonds 24 electrically connecting the dice 20 and 22 with the contact pads 26 on the substrate 18. As previously noted, the first integrated circuit 20 is mounted onto the second integrated circuit 22 using a non-conductive adhesive such as Ablestik epoxy 84-1. Similarly, the second integrated circuit die 22 is mounted onto substrate 18 using a similar non-conductive adhesive or an adhesive such as Ablestik 84-3.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of the chip package 10 after being prepared to be affixed to the printed circuit board according to the present invention. As is evident in the figure, the contacts 36 are formed on the contact pads 32 on the second surface 34 of the substrate 18. Specifically as illustrated in this embodiment, the contacts are formed from balls made of a conductive metal such as gold wire ball bonds. In alternative embodiments, the wire ball bonds are formed from other metals such as copper, aluminum, etc. During mounting, the housing 12 is positioned on the printed circuit board 40 such that the contacts 36 are aligned with the contact pads 38 of the printed circuit board 40. Thereafter, the force mechanism 42 is employed to apply a mounting force so that the package 10 is affixed to the printed circuit board 10. It should be noted that solder balls have the advantage of being somewhat malleable or compliant so they compress under pressure as applied by the force mechanism 42. This helps maintain a good electrical contact between the contacts 36 and the contact pads 38.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, one embodiment of the force mechanism 42 is shown. FIG. 4A shows a schematic side view of a clamp 44 mounted on a substrate 18 having contact pads 26 thereon. The clamp 44 includes a base portion 50 and first and second clamp arms 52 extending upward from the base 50. The arms 52 are flexible and resilient such that they will deform sideways and then return to a rest position as shown in FIG. 4A. The base 50 of clamp 44 includes a recess region (not shown) to accommodate the a chip package 10. When a package housing 12 is inserted into the recess region, the arms 52 deform sideways and then snap into place over the chip housing 12. In various embodiments, the clamp 44 may be mounted onto the substrate 18 using screws 56, heat stakes 58, or a combination thereof. The clamp 50 may be made of a plastic material or a metal. In FIG. 4B, the clamp 50 is attached to the substrate 18 using epoxy 60.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show various cross sections of a chip housing 12 before and after being inserted into a clamp 44 according to various embodiments of the invention. As is seen in FIG. 5A, the chip housing 12 is positioned over and inserted into the recess region of the clamp 44. In FIG. 5B, the chip housing 12 is shown inserted into the clamp 44. The arms 54 of the clamp 44 snap fit over the chip package 12 to hold it in place within the clamp. Although not illustrated in FIG. 5B, the clamp 42 may then be fastened to a printed circuit board 40 using screws, epoxy, heat stakes, an adhesive, etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, yet another embodiment of the invention is shown. In this embodiment, an Instrument housing 60 is used to pressure mount the chip package 12. As is illustrated in the Figure, a screw 62 is used to affix a bottom case 64 to the Instrument housing 60. In alternative embodiments, epoxy, snap features, or heat stakes could be used.

One useful benefit of the present invention is that the force mechanism can be readily released, thus separating the package 10 from the printed circuit board 40. This feature is particularly useful for products that are already in the field. It allows a integrated circuit(s) housed within a package 10 to be readily removed in the field in the event of a product failure or a product upgrade.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. For example, although the present invention was described using an imaging chip and a video processing chip, it should be understood that the present invention may be used with any type or number of chips. Further, in cases where multiple chips are used, they do not necessarily have to be stacked one on top of the other. Rather they can be mounted side-by-side on the substrate 18 for example. Therefore, the described embodiments should be taken as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention should not be limited to the details given herein but should be defined by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents. 

We claim:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a substrate; a first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate; a first set of contacts formed on the substrate; a housing configured to house the first integrated circuit die mounted onto the substrate; and a force mechanism configured to force mount the housing including the integrated circuit die and substrate onto a printed circuit board having a second set of contacts, the force mechanism configured to provide a sufficient mounting force so that the first set of contacts and the second set of contacts are maintained in electrical contact without the use of solder when the housing is force mounted onto the printed circuit board.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the force mechanism includes one of the following types of force mechanisms: clamps, screws, adhesives, Instrument housings, or heat stakes.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first contacts comprise wire ball bonds.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the wire ball bonds comprise one of the following types of metals: gold; copper; and aluminum.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises one of the following types of materials: polyimide or flex-tape.
 6. The apparats of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes vias which provide electrically conductive conduits between a first set of contact pads located on a first surface of the substrate and a second set of contact pads located on a second surface of the substrate.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first integrated circuit die is mounted on the first surface of the substrate and electrical connectors are formed between the first integrated circuit die and the first set of contact pads.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein electrically conductive vias are formed through the substrate to electrically connect the first set of contact pads and the second set of contacts respectively, the second set of contact pads being configured to form electrical connections with the printed circuit board when the force mechanism is used to force mount the housing to the printed circuit board.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first integrated circuit die includes imaging circuitry configured to sense images received by the first integrated circuit die.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a second integrated circuit die configured to process the images sensed by the first integrated circuit die.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second integrated circuit die is mounted onto the integrated circuit die and the substrate.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first integrated circuit die is mounted on top of the second integrated circuit die on the substrate within the housing and a non-conductive layer is provided between the first integrated circuit die and the second integrated circuit die.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the housing further comprises a lens barrel containing a transparent lens.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transparent lens is made of one of the following types of materials: glass or plastic. 